Freezing Rain
by turtlechick
Summary: We knew something was wrong when we could barely open the doors to the hotel one; because of the snow, and the fact it was the middle of summer. AU. Nejiten, Sasusaku, and Shikatema.
1. Chapter 1

Here we go again. :)  
This story is gonna be based on one of my favorite movies. The Day After Tomorrow.  
Jake is a babe. lol

Pairings: Nejiten, Sasusaku, and Shikatema.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. And I don't own the movie the day after tomorrow.

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Freezing Rain

Chapter 1

_By: Turtlechick_

Tenten:

"Shh be quiet." The teacher commanded my class.

Every year all of the students in our school took a test. If you scored high enough on the test your name was put in a drawing. If your name was drawn you got to go to this huge convention in some other state. Last year the convention was in Hawaii, as you can imagine people put a little more effort in their tests this year.

"_Ok here are the three students chosen for the academic convention in Maine. Drum roll please. Ok here we go, Tenten Watarashi, Sakura Haruno, and Temari Suna."_

I could have jumped out of my skin. My name was called. The best part was that the other two people going just happened to be my best friends. I guess all of those late nights studying really paid off.

OOO

That day at lunch I went straight to our table to see how Sakura and Temari had taken the news.

"Maine? That's really the best they can do?" Sakura wailed. She was one of the ones who studied for recreational benefits.

"Oh be quiet. At least it will look good on our college applications." Temari objected.

"Wow that's the first time I've heard that coming from you Temari." I teased as I sat down in between the two of them. That's how it has always been. I've always been in the middle.

Sakura is your typical girly girl. She loves shopping, boys, and designer anything, oh and did I mention boys? She even dyed her hair her favorite color, pink.

Temari is a little more hardcore. She likes the color black and likes to break out of the crowd. She's one in a million. She loves to be different. She didn't like her blond hair all that much so she likes to wear it in different styles. This year she had been wearing her hair in four ponytails on the back of her head.

Me, well I'm right in the middle. I'm not a big girly girl like Sakura, but a little sweeter than Temari. I'm kind of boring so Temari suggested I wear my hair differently likes he does. One time we tried two buns and it kind of stuck with me.

"Well I bet you're happy." Temari said. "This is our last year in high school and the smartest girl in school needs to be recognized." I stuck my tongue out at her but it was true. I was at the top of my class and always had been. Every year I had waited for my name to be called and this year it finally happened.

"So what's the weather like in Maine?" Sakura asked all of a sudden.

Temari and I laughed. "Cold." I answered. I knew where this was going.

"You know what that means?" She got this huge smile on her face. "Shopping!"

"Sakura you always find some way to make us go shopping."

"Well Temari we live in a city where it's always hot. Tell me do you have any winter coats?" Temari said nothing. "That's what I thought. It's decided then we'll go shopping after school today."

I giggled. "We'll go Sakura but you can't keep Temari out as long as you did last time. I thought she was going to kill that cab driver."

"Hey! He was asking for it. Besides I told him not to push me." The three of us laughed.

"So do you think there will be any cute boys there?" Sakura's eyes sparkled at the thought of cute boys.

"Yeah right Sakura nice try. This is a complete nerd convention." Temari said. "And we're the nerds."

"Well it couldn't hurt to ask." Sakura was pouting now.

"Hey who knows maybe you'll get lucky." I tried to cheer Sakura up by rubbing her back but the giggles escaped my lips. I had talked to a boy who had gone to the convention last year. He told me that the entire place was filled with some of the biggest nerds he had ever seen. The worst thing is that he's a pretty big nerd so they must be pretty bad.

OOO

We limited Sakura to a minimum of two hours. She pouted at first but knew that would probably be just enough to make Temari and I suffer.

At the end of those two hours Temari and I were exhausted. I could have sworn that we went to every single store in our three story mall. We had settled with a few coats for each of us. Sakura recommended matching mittens and hats. We couldn't say no because they were really cute.

"So I guess tomorrow is our trip?" Sakura said as we walked home our bags in hand.

"Well at least we get out of school."

I laughed. "Temari it's an academic convention what do you think we're going to do there?"

"You mean we have to do school stuff? I thought we were just going to go and meet some people, listen to a few people give a lecture and be done with it."

"Come on Temari even I knew that. Yeah apparently that's why you have to get a certain test score. All of the schools have to compete in this super bowl thing for smart kids."

"Well I guess it's a good thing we have Tenten. No one is smarter than her." She put an arm around my shoulder.

"Actually there are probably a lot smarter kids than me out there."

"What are you talking about Tenten? You will totally dominate this convention thing."

"Thanks guys."

OOO

"So here we go." We towed our luggage on the plane. Of course Sakura had twice as many bags as Temari and I did, but that's just more to lug around right?

"How long is this flight supposed to be?" Sakura asked one of the flight attendants.

"About three hours." She smiled sweetly at us and then moved on to the row of seats.

"Great I'm getting some sleep." Temari announced to the rest of the plane. Sakura and I giggled. "Well I thought this flight would be long so I didn't get any sleep last night just so I would get some sleep on this plane."

"Yeah I brought plenty of magazines." Sakura held up an assortment of fashion magazines. Temari made a gagging noise and Sakura stuck out her tongue. "So Tenten why didn't your dad get us some first class tickets?"

"Well these tickets were provided by the convention committee. I didn't want them to go to waste."

"Who cares? That last plane ride we took was so nice. Your dad has some great connections." It was true my dad worked for the government and traveled a lot. All of his extra frequent flyer miles went to me for personal use.

"_We hope you all enjoy your flight. Please remain seated with your seat belts on until the light turns off. Thank you for choosing Phoenix Airlines."_

I took a deep breath and popped my head phones is my ear.

* * *

Mmmk there it is.  
I know that it is a little short but the next will be extra long to make up for it.  
BTW I got a whole new computer so an update will be up soon. :)  
Thanks for reading. Now all you have to do is review. lol  
Neji and the otehrs will come in the next chapters. Just hold out till then. lol

turtlechick...out


	2. Chapter 2

Wow I got this up sooner than I thought I would. :)  
Enter Shikamaru, Neji, and Sasuke. lol  
Hope you enjoy.

Parings: Nejiten, Sasusaku, and Shikatema.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the day after tomorow.

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**Freezing Rain**

Chapter 2

By: turtlechick

Tenten:

"Wow Tenten you weren't kidding when you said it was cold." Sakura rubbed her arms for warmth.

My teeth chattered. "I knew it was supposed to be cold but its summer time this is a little ridiculous." I scrounged for my coat as we waited for a cab to come and pick us up and take us to the hotel where the convention was being held this year.

"I wonder if this is normal for Maine." Temari pondered.

"I hope not. This sucks." Sakura had grabbed my arm and was clutching on to me for warmth. I laughed at her misfortune.

"That's what you get for having such a big carry on that you can't even find your coat."

She pouted and soon the cab pulled up. We piled in as fast as we could to escape the cold.

"Where to?" The cabbie asked.

"The Summertime hotel." I answered. It was a little ironic because of the cold weather.

"So is this weather normal for Maine?" Temari never had a problem with taking to strangers.

"Actually no it's been quite cold this year, but recently the temperatures have been at an all time low."

The rest of the ride was in silence. When we arrived at the hotel I quickly paid the cabbie and followed Sakura and Temari inside.

"Wow this hotel is so swanky." Sakura gushed. I saw Temari roll her eyes out of the corner of mine. I giggled.

We got our hotel room and headed upstairs.

"Is this it, 203?" I checked the card key again just to make sure. It was, so I slid it into the small slot, and it opened right up.

The room was very nice. The beds were draped in gorgeous gold fabric. There was a huge flat screen in one of the corners.

"Two beds, who wants to share?" Temari stared at the two of us.

"Tenten you and I can share." She bent down to whisper in my ear. "Besides Temari snores like a hibernating bear." I giggled behind my hand.

Temari quickly threw a pillow at her face. "I heard that Sakura." Temari had this funny toothy grin on her face.

"Well it's the truth Temari." Sakura was fighting back the giggles. Soon Temari was laughing right along with her.

"You two fight like two year olds. Let's go check in before we get in trouble."

"Fine. Fine." Temari threw an arm around my neck and walked me to the elevator.

OOO

After we checked in we went to the ballroom where the convention was being held.

"Oh my gosh, it's like attack of the nerds." Sakura wailed. Temari quickly elbowed her in the ribs. "Well I'm sorry but this is a tad bit disappointing."

We all laughed. "Well it's only for a couple of days do you think you can make?" I tried to sound serious.

"I guess I could try." She sounded all exasperated like this was such an imposition. Temari laughed at our little show.

We wandered aimlessly through the convention. It was huge; there were tons of booths set up, for things like college and scholarship opportunities. It was kind of overwhelming.

"Well I have to pee I'll find you guys later." Before Temari and I could even blink Sakura was off.

"Yeah I think I'm going to go locate the exits. You know, just in case." I laughed.

"OK. See you later."

Once I was alone it hit me again how big this place was. Soon I found myself staring mouth agape at all of the people.

"Ouch." I fell right on my butt. I guess I didn't notice that wall I ran into.

"I'm sorry are you ok?" The wall could talk?

I rubbed my forehead from the impact and finally looked up. I couldn't breathe for a second. I hadn't run into a wall at all but a guy. A cute guy at that. No not cute, he was absolutely gorgeous. He had the strangest eyes. They were a faint lavender color, and his hair was dark brown color pulled into a low ponytail.

He wore a white button up shirt with the cuffs rolled up slightly. That's when I noticed he was holding out his hand to help me up. I took it as fast as I could to make up for the time I had wasted gawking at him.

"Are you alright?" He asked again.

All I could do was nod.

He arched his eyebrow and smiled. "My name is Neji Hyuuga."

I just stood there for a minute until I realized he wanted my name too. "Oh… Tenten Watarashi."

"So are you here for the convention?"

"Yes." It was that would come out of my mouth.

He chuckled. "Hmmm. Well maybe I'll see you around." He turned around and started to walk away until he turned right back around. "Say have you seen two guys? One's got black hair the other with brown hair. He sort of looks like he's going to fall asleep."

I giggled behind my hand. "No, should tell them you're looking for them if I see them?"

He smiled. "Thanks that would help me out a lot." He waved and walked away but again he turned back around. "Hey I have a better idea. Do you want to help me look for them?"

I smiled. "Why not?"

Sakura:

After I got done in the bathroom I tried to find Tenten or Temari but there was no luck. I would just have to wait till they found me. I sat down on a bench and waited. They always say when your lost to stay in one place right?

I put my elbows on my knees and put my face in my hands. So far this trip was not fun, at all.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" I didn't even look up. I was too depressed.

"No problem. Knock yourself out."

"Thanks."

"Yep." I took a deep breath. "Just a few more days, just a few more days." I kept saying this in my head. It didn't really help.

"Are you sick or something?" He had a hint of humor in his voice.

"No." I snapped as I brought my head to see who was pestering me. I was a little surprised at what I saw. I was expecting some nerdy guy but no, sitting next to me was a really cute guy.

Maybe there was hope for this place after all.

He had black hair and it was spiked in the back. He was wearing a three quarter sleeve navy shirt that accented his muscles quite well, I might add.

He looked slightly offended.

"Sorry. I'm just a little tired of this place."

"Already?"

I nodded.

"You really should be more open to things."

"I know, but I really didn't want to come to this place in the first place."

"Well I guess I shouldn't be talking. I didn't want to come either." He let out a small chuckle.

"Oh yeah?" I sniggered.

"Yeah I only came for my friends."

"Really me too. This really means a lot to Tenten."

"Yeah Neji and I could care less, but Shikamaru had to come."

"He had to come?"

"Yeah he's sort of a genius."

"So where are your friends?" I took a minute to process what I just said, and then realized it sounded really gross. "Geez that sounded weird sorry."

He laughed. "It's no problem. I actually lost them a few booths ago. I thought I would just wait here for them."

"That's funny I left for just a second and when I got back my friends were gone too."

"I'm sorry I forgot to introduce myself. Sasuke Uchiha."

"Sakura Haruno. So do you want to wait together?"

"Sure."

Temari:

"Hey there, nice legs." I turned around to see some nerdy guy with greasy hair smirking at me suggestively.

"Say one more word and I break your face." He got this scared look on his face and he and his friends booked it out of there. I laughed.

"Why are you so uptight?" I turned back around to see some jerk leaning against a wall. I bet he thought he looked cool.

"Me, uptight?" I mocked him.

"Oh look she's sarcastic too."

"Well what happened to you didn't you get enough beauty sleep?"

"Actually no, I could hit the hay now that you mention it." He smiled a crooked smile.

I smiled back. "Well what's keeping you?"

"This stupid convention."

"You too huh? I wish I could leave, but my friends would probably send the whole army to find me. I most likely wouldn't get that far."

He chuckled. "The name's Shikamaru Nara."

"Temari Suna."

"So is that why you ditched them?"

"No I went to locate all the exits for an easy escape. I just haven't found them yet."

He looked at me like I was crazy and then leaned his head back on the wall. I took a moment to look him over. He was tall, like me. He was pretty skinny and had beady little eyes. His brown hair was pulled into a ponytail on the top of his head. He was wearing a plain green T-shirt. I noticed he had his ears pierced, that was a first for me.

"Are you done staring?" A smirk was played across his lips.

He caught me off guard. "What are you talking about?" I demanded.

"Nothing, nothing." I could have sworn I heard him mutter "Troublesome woman," under his breath. I tried to let that slide, but it was very hard.

He started to walk away. "Where are you going?"

"I think I better go look for my friends." I didn't answer. "Do you want to tag along? Maybe we'll find yours too."

I sighed. "Fine."

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Tah duh. lol  
I don't know why but Shikatema is really hard for me to write, even though I l.o.v.e the pairing. lol  
I think I did ok though.  
I can only get better. Right? :)  
Wait don't answer that. lol

Please reveiw it would make Monday. It wasn't that good today. :(  
I just found out I have two spreads to do in two and a half weeks for yearbook.  
wish me luck...  
XP

turtelchick...out


	3. Chapter 3

WhooI'm back!!! lol  
I'm not too proud of this chapter but here it goes anyway.

Pairings: Nejiten, Sasusaku, Shikatema.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the day after tomorow.

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Freezing Rain

Chapter 3

Tenten:

"There's Sasuke." Neji sounded relieved. "Wait who is that girl with him?"

I laughed. "That's Sakura." I made eye contact with her and she flagged me down excitedly. I hit my forehead and shook my head. She wasn't very subtle.

"There you are Tenten. I have been waiting for like, ever. Where have you been? I was worried sick." She took her focus off of me and zoned in on Neji. "No don't answer that. I know where you've been. So who's your friend?" She raised an eyebrow at me.

That's Sakura for you all she thinks about is boys. "This is Neji. He's here for the convention too." I turned to Neji. "Neji this is my crazy best friend Sakura." They both gave small waves and that was the end of their introductions.

"So Sasuke this is where you slinked off to?" Neji crossed his arms over his chest. "Tenten this is Sasuke."

"Oh please Neji don't start that. I see you weren't doing anything productive either." Sasuke added glancing at me and then back at Neji.

They started glaring at each other. It was like watching two statues that just happened to be facing each other. It was quite amusing.

"Wait you two know each other?" Sakura was still a little confused.

"Yeah. We came here with one other guy. Speaking of Shikamaru, have you seen him?" Sasuke addressed Sakura's question and then went to ask Neji his.

"No, we were looking for him when we saw you two."

"Hey look there's Temari." Sakura pointed in the middle of the crowd. Sure enough there was Temari walking around with some guy.

"And there's Shikamaru." Sasuke added.

That was weird. How we all seemed to find guys who were in the same group for this convention. I wasn't a big believer in coincidence; I preferred to think that things happened for a reason. I wonder what the reason for this was.

"There you are you lazy ass." Sasuke snapped.

"Hold your horses, I was just helping blonde here find her friends." He pointed to Temari with is thumb.

She quickly smacked him in the back of the head. "Whatever."

The rest of the introductions were made and then there was an awkward silence. I think everyone was realizing what I had just a few moments ago. I knew the silence was about to broken and I knew who was going to break it. Sakura.

"So who wants to ditch this place I could go for some hot chocolate?" I was right. She was looking expectantly at me to second her motion.

"Yes please I need to get out of here." Temari was already half way out the door.

The five of us followed suit and headed toward the door. I had almost forgotten how cold the weather was outside. I think Sakura did too because she didn't look as happy as she did inside. Sasuke seemed to be leading the way to where ever we could get some hot chocolate. That did sound really good in this weather. I wasn't sure if Sasuke knew where he was going though. So I decided to ask Neji.

"Um Neji? Does Sasuke have any idea where he is going?"

"Not a clue." I giggled behind my freezing hands.

Suddenly Shikamaru changed his direction and crossed the street. "Shikamaru where the hell are you going?" Sasuke asked a little pissed off that someone wasn't listening to him.

"Well you aren't taking us anywhere close to a place where we can get hot chocolate. Besides I saw a stand on the way to the hotel it's just a few more blocks."He shoved his hands in his pockets and continued down the street. Neji followed him so I guessed I better follow him too. A few steps down the street and Sasuke finally decided to join the rest of us.

"Smart ass." Temari muttered from behind Neji and me.

"So how does he know where to go if Sasuke didn't?"

"Photographic memory. I told you he was a genius didn't I?" I guess he was pretty good.

"That lazy bum is a genius?" Temari quickened her step to match my pace.

"Yeah don't let his appearance fool you. He just doesn't like to put up any effort."

Temari laughed. "Yeah I'll have to see it for myself."

"You will on the day of the tournament. That is if Sasuke and I can get him out of bed." Temari and I laughed.

"That's the day after tomorrow right?" I asked.

"Yes. Tomorrow we're supposed to sit through a day full of lectures and speeches." He didn't seem to like that idea by the tone in his voice.

"Great." Sakura was now in our conversation. "I can hardly stand it here." She paused. "Well maybe just for a few more days." I knew she probably was talking about Sasuke. Temari on the other hand sounded like she wanted to leave right at this very moment. I wonder if this Shikamaru guy was really all that bad?

OOO

Sure enough Shikamaru knew the way to the hot chocolate stand. We all got a cup and then started back to the hotel. We figured we had been gone long enough and the weather was almost unbearable. My nose was running constantly from the cold weather and my hands were red from the cold.

"I think it's going to start to rain." Sakura suggested.

I looked at the sky and it did look rather eerie. The clouds were a gloomy grey color and they filled the sky. The once serene blue sky was now gone and the overcast now replaced it.

"It won't rain it's too cold for that. The worst thing that could happen would be that it would snow." Sasuke said.

"That's not much better." She mumbled.

We walked in silence until I felt something cold on my skin. "Ouch." I yipped.

"What is it Tenten?" Sakura asked.

"It felt like something sharp hit my skin. Ouch." I yelled again. I looked up into the sky and something else sharp hit my face. It was raining.

"I thought you said it was too cold to rain Sasuke?" Sakura yelled as the six of us rushed to get under the cover a building. The rain or whatever it was was really coming down. It was so loud we had to yell to hear each other.

"It is this rain is different!" We watched as others on the street around us began to realize the rain. A few women screamed as the rain hit their skin. Everyone was now under some sort of cover as the rain continued to come down. It was coming down so fast it was already beginning to flood the streets.

"What do we do now?" Temari yelled to make herself heard over the rain.

"Just a minute I'm thinking." Shikamaru snapped right back. "We need to get back to the hotel or else we'll get stranded here." He finally said.

"Shouldn't we just wait it out I mean the rain can't last that long. Can it?" Sakura said her voice was scared.

"No. Look at the sky. It doesn't show any signs of stopping. If we stay here too long the road is going to get so flooded that not even a car will be able to get through. We need to make a run for it. The hotel is only a few blocks away I think we can make it."

"Are you sure Shikamaru?" Neji's tone was serious.

"Yeah. We'll go on the count of three." Shikamaru stared at the scene in front of us. The streets were already starting to flood. It was about up to our ankles now my pant legs were totally soaked now. The cold water numbed my skin.

I took a deep breath as Shikamaru started to count.

"One."

I exhaled.

"Two."

I readied myself for the cold and the piercing rain.

"Three!" And just like that we were off.

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Geez that was short. :(  
I'm sorry but I thought that was a cool way to end it...  
But hey you tell me.  
I know that the plot is starting sort of early so just bear with me it's my first chapter story.  
;P

Please review. It fuels the creative mind.

turtlechick...out


	4. Chapter 4

_Wow, that's all I can say, Wow.  
I seriously thinking of deleting this,  
But look at that... I didn't lol  
It's a tad short but the story is moving a little quicker than I would have liked. :(  
Oh well._

_Pairings: Nejiten, Sasusaku, and Shikatema._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's charcters, nor do I own the movie, The day after tomorrow._

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**Freezing Rain**

Chapter 4

_By: turtlechick_

Tenten:

As we ran back to the hotel the rain came down harder and harder. I think I figured out why this rain hurt so badly. The rain drops were freezing. I'm sure we were a sight to see the six of us running through the water filled streets.

When we arrived back there was panic inside the hotel. The people inside had noticed the terror outside and were beginning to react. I guess this weather was unusual for Maine.

"Now calm down." The announcer's voice boomed in the lobby even though he had no microphone or something to make it louder. "We won't let a little rain slow us down will we?" He was trying to lighten up the mood. I don't think it worked. "Look all of the flights going in and out of Maine are delayed due to the rain. We still have the lectures to get through tomorrow and then the completion the day after that. I have to ask that no one goes outside." Who would go outside in this weather? "We ask that you all remain calm until we find a solution for the problem."

So we were stuck here until the rain stopped? That didn't sound good at all. I noticed my hands burning and when I looked at them they were red from the cold rain. I watched as a pair of hands covered mine in an attempt to warm them up. I looked up to see that it was Neji's hands that were now covering mine. I must have looked him strangely because he met my eyes and then looked away and removed his hands nervously.

"Sorry." He muttered.

"That's ok I was just surprised."

"Oh." He kept his gaze away from mine.

"I didn't say I want you to do that though." I smiled at him even though he was looking away still embarrassed. I took his hand in mine and he slowly turned around to face me. His face looked totally confused and amused at the same time. I giggled at his expression. He looked even more confused now. "Your face looks really funny."

"Tenten come on we're going to go change and get these wet clothes off of us." Sakura yelled at me from the hall. Her eyes then flashed down at my hands and her face turned sly all of a sudden. Uh oh.

I hurried after them until I was at the same pace as she and Temari. Nothing was said until we reached our hotel room. When Sakura shut the door to the hotel room she cornered me. "So Tennie would mind telling me what that was?" She had her hands on her hips and she was tapping her foot repeatedly.

My face got incredibly red. "Um… My hands were cold, you know from the rain, and Neji was just warming them up. I could have gotten hypothermia." It was half way true.

She looked at me disbelievingly.

"Give her a break Sakura." Temari said as she stripped off her wet coat.

"Fine, fine, but I want an update if anything is going on you hear me Tenten?"

I nodded. "Hey Temari?"

"Yeah squirt?"

"Is Shikamaru really all that bad? You act like he's the worst person you've ever met."

I think I caught her off guard with my question. "Well... I don't know."

"You know what I think Tenten? I think our Temari has a crush." Her voice sounded like she was singing.

"Oh can it Sakura." She snapped. Why was Temari so defensive? Did she really like Shikamaru?

"Well you Temari if you keep your feelings all bottled up, bad things will happen." She was trying to make her voice sound gloomy, but it just made Temari even angrier.

"Sakura leave her alone. If Temari likes Shikamaru that her business. She'll tell us if she wants to." Temari shot me a 'thank you' look. I smiled at her.

I walked over to the window and moved back the curtains and was startled at what I saw. It was snowing, hard, the ground was all the way covered and now the snowfall was getting higher and higher. All the cars on the street were stopped in place as their drivers were forced to get out and walk in the cold to get where they needed to go. It was utter chaos on the streets.

"Guys look!" Temari and Sakura joined me by the window and were as shocked as me when they saw the outside. Suddenly the power went off and the room was dark, even the light from outside wasn't enough because all of the clouds had covered up the sun.

"Well that's a little creepy." Temari said.

"Maybe we should go see what's happening at the lobby. Maybe it's only our room that has the power off." Sakura suggested.

"I don't think that's the case. Look the power is out everywhere." I pointed to the other buildings down the street. Not a light was on but the ominous feeling of it all sure was.

"Well maybe we should check at the front desk. Maybe they know something." Temari said. When the three of us stepped out of the hotel room we saw everyone else leaving theirs as well. I guess they had the same idea we did.

Down at the lobby it was worse than I thought. Everyone was panicking like the end of the world was coming, but for all we knew it just might be. This weather was unexplainable. I wonder if the same was happening around the world, it was, then I was officially scared.

"What's going on?" Temari asked, I hadn't noticed Neji and the others come and stand with us.

"They're talking about evacuating the city and trying to get somewhere safe. They say the weather is only getting worse." Shikamaru explained.

"Is that really a good idea? To go out in the storm I mean." Sakura asked quietly. "If only there was someone we could ask, that would know about what was going on. I know!" She yelled.

"What?" Sasuke asked as confused as the rest of us. "Tenten does your cell phone work?"

"I guess so."

"What about your dad? He works for the military doesn't he? I'm sure if something is happening he'll know about it. Maybe he'll know what to do."

"I don't know. I'm not supposed to call him unless it's an emergency."

"Tenten and what do you call this?" She said.

"I suppose… Ok." I stepped away from the group and dialed my dad's phone number. He picked up on the first ring.

"Tenten are you ok? Where are you?" His voice was frantic.

"I'm fine. I'm at the convention in Maine. Dad, what's going on?" Temari and the others were all looking at me.

"I'm not sure of all the details, but they say that we're going into some sort of second ice age." I was shocked, I felt my eyes grow wide and my mouth fell open and then I dropped the phone on the ground. The others ran over and Shikamaru picked up the phone off the ground and put it to his ear.

"Sir my name's Shikamaru Nara, I'm a friend of Tenten's. What is going on?" I heard my father explain the same thing to Shikamaru like he did me. Shikamaru's face got a bit paler at his words. "They're suggesting an evacuation, do we go along?" My father voice was a little louder now as it came through the tiny speaker. "I see. So what do you suggest we do?" My father had calmed down a tad but his words were still strained. "Thank you sir." Shikamaru hung up my phone.

"Well what did he say?" Neji asked from beside me.

"He said that anyone caught out in the storm will be killed." Everyone was silent. "Our best bet is staying here and waiting it out until a rescue team is sent for us."

"Wait it out? How long is that going to be?" Sasuke said.

"He didn't say." Shikamaru's voice was grim, if I wasn't scared before, I sure was now.

* * *

_Dum dum dum. lol  
Sorry about the cliffhanger, but it was necessary.  
I hope you liked this chapter._

_Please review and evn if you don't check out some of my other stories. :)_

_turtlechick...out  
_


	5. Chapter 5

_Wow I had some extra time before my Christmas Eve festivities,  
so I decided to post this chapter.  
I've gotten back to loving this story so updates will be coming regularly again. YAY!  
Thanks to all my awesome reviewers. :)_

_Pairings: Nejiten, Sasusaku, Shikatema._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I also don't own The Day After Tomorrow._

**

* * *

Freezing Rain**

Chapter 5

By: turtlechick

Tenten:

"So what do we do now?" Sakura asked her voice wavering.

"We have to stop them. We can't let them go out there and kill themselves. I've got to stop them." I said. I ran towards the crowd and went straight to the man who would be leading the trip into the storm. He was bigger than I was, with a beard and a heavy winter coat that was tight on his overweight body. "Sir you have to stop, if you go out into the storm everyone will be killed." I put emphasis on the word "killed."

"Look little girl, if we stay here we'll be stranded." We argued until I was sure he wasn't going to get it. Maybe I could get others to listen to me.

I jumped up on a table and cupped my hands around my mouth. "Everybody we need to stay indoors. I have from a reliable source that anyone who is caught out in this storm will be killed." Some people looked but some didn't even acknowledge me. I couldn't help but feel sad for those people. They were walking straight to their death and they didn't even know it.

I walked back to the group, discouraged at my efforts.

"You did the best you could Tenten." Sakura said, but she was wrong. We were the only ones who knew what was going to happen and we couldn't stop them from going.

OOO

The six of us were the only ones that decided to stay behind watched as the others in the hotel left with only the belongings they could carry. "We need to get some supplies together." Shikamaru said breaking the silence. "This storm is coming fast so we need to get prepared fast. Sakura and Temari go to the kitchen and get as much food as you, Tenten search the rooms for blankets, we'll need them, and the rest of us will look for first aid kits, flashlights and other supplies that might come in handy. We'll need to find a place on one of the higher floors and that's where we'll stay for the time we're here, but we'll meet back here for the time being."

I didn't doubt the fact that Shikamaru was a genius anymore.

After we split up I headed straight to all of the rooms on the first floor. I grabbed as many of the comforters off the beds, which really wasn't that many. I had never liked the blankets in hotels. I heard this rumor that hotels never changed the comforters on top unless someone died. Ew.

I was done in under about fifteen minutes so I decided to meet the others back in the lobby. I sat on a bench and took a look outside. I don't think we could have even gotten out of the hotel if we had wanted to. The snow was so high now that the doors were completely covered up, in other words we were buried. If this storm kept up like it was, other buildings in the city would probably not even be visible anymore.

"Tenten are you alright?" It was Neji and the others.

"Oh yeah I'm fine I was just thinking." None of us could handle a depressed girl. That would just make the whole situation worse than it already was.

"Well Shikamaru thinks he's a found a place we can stay while we're here."

OOO

"Wow, nice choice lazy ass." Temari said when we got in the room, and wow was right. Shikamaru picked out a really swanky room I bet it was the presidential suite or something. The room was draped in gold metallic fabric. There were tons of sofas and a mini fridge in the corner. None of us probably would have gotten to be in this room if it wasn't for the circumstances.

"Calm down. I picked it because it's the only room with a fireplace." Oh. "We'll need to get a lot of flammable material to make sure that the fire stays going while we're here, so Neji and Tenten go find something."

"What were you thinking about?" Neji asked in his deep baritone when we had left the room.

"Oh, just about the situation we're all in. I guess we should be grateful that we're not out in the storm but the thought of all of those people who didn't know just makes me a little sick."

"I know the feeling but they made the choice and it's not like you didn't try to stop them."

"I guess you're right." It was silent until I couldn't stand it anymore. "Neji?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think that we'll be ok? I mean there's only the six of us and what if they don't come or they take too long to come find us and the food runs out and…" Neji cut me off in the middle of my rambling and stood right in front of me, put his hands on my shoulders and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Tenten, we'll be fine. Shikamaru may be lazy but not when it comes to the responsibility of people around him, besides I think he likes your friend." I couldn't help but laugh. "What's so funny?" He said with a straight face.

"Well it's the just the coincidence of it all. I know Sakura likes Sasuke and now Shikamaru and Temari. You know I was trying to find out why we had all met at the convention before and I think I know why now."

Neji was quiet but he didn't need to say anything.

We found a stash of newspapers in a storage closet and grabbed a few arm full's. There were more so when they ran out we could always go back and get more. We also found old phonebooks and the study of the hotel manager. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if we burned a few of his books, right?

"Let's head back." I nodded and we were on our way back to the room. When we got back I surprised to see Sakura passed out on one of the couches with her head on Temari's shoulder and she was asleep as well. Shikamaru had started a fire in the fireplace. I looked around to see one of the blankets I had brought had been ripped to burn it for the fire. I guess he was using whatever he could find.

"So what do we do now?" I asked anyone who would answer me.

"We just have to wait now. There's nothing we really can do because we've done all we can. Get some sleep Tenten. This kind of cold can kill so we'll take shifts on who's awake or not. Sasuke and I voted that the three of you could go first. We'll wake you up in a few hours." Shikamaru said.

"Ok." I tried to sleep on the couch next to Sakura and Temari but there were just too many things on my mind. Neji had calmed me down before but the silence was making all of those unsettling thoughts come rushing back to me. I couldn't help but think that I was the only one who was scared about the whole situation, but then thought they were probably just trying to hide it like I was. I knew that my dad wouldn't forget about us but what if something happened to him as well. The only people who knew that we were here were he and the people that made the journey in the storm.

I also thought about the other's families. Were they worried? Of course they were. Sakura's parents had always been the protective type. It had taken a lot of groveling just for them to let her go on this trip. Temari's mom wasn't the greatest but she cared for her and her brother's nonetheless. I didn't know the boy's families but I'm sure they would be worried as well.

"You better get some sleep, squirt." It was Temari.

"I am I am."

* * *

_Whoo there you go!!  
I hope you enjoyed it.  
It really makes me happy that people like my stories. :)_

_Please review and even if you don't check out some of my other stories.  
(It's good to know this message is working. Thanks for letting me know.)_

_turtlechick...out  
_


	6. Chapter 6

_Here's the sixth chapter.  
It's kind of just a filler so don't get all excited.  
It's mostly Shikatema, because I've been neglecting them a tad. :)  
I really like this pairing it's actually my second favorite. :D  
Anywho...I hope you enjoy it._

_Pairings: Nejiten, Shikatema, Sasusaku._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters._

**Freezing Rain**

Chapter 6

By: turtlechick

Temari:

While we were stranded in that stupid hotel there wasn't much to, but sleep. We took shifts for awhile like the lazy ass had suggested. He said that with the weather so cold it could kill us or something like that. He must have some sort of dictionary stored away in his pineapple head or something. He was different that was for sure.

It had only been a couple of days but we were bored out of our minds. Tenten and Sakura had started a game of would you rather that they stopped earlier because it got a little…gross. I think seeing the same place for two days straight was getting them. It was sort of funny for a while though. Especially when it almost turned into a game of truth or dare when Tenten got cocky and told Sakura to plant one on Sasuke.

Her face matched her hair. I had never seen her like that before. It was hilarious because she was always the one trying to get me to make the first step with guys. It was also funny to see Sasuke squirm. His beady little pretty boy eyes were like saucer plates.

The only person I don't think minded being able to sleep almost twenty four seven was Shikamaru. I thought he was lazy before but whoa, I was wrong. Sometimes he would be in mid conversation with Neji and he would just nod right off. He always seemed to know when the others were asleep and the fire was close to going out. It was like his 'spider sense' or something like that.

In some crazy turn of events I found myself awake at the same he was, while everyone else was asleep. I watched silently as he took one of the books, that Tenten and Neji had found, and ripped out a large section of the pages and then threw it into the fire. He sighed and leaned back against the sofa he was closest too. I don't think he realized that I was awake as well. "What a drag." I heard him mumble.

"What is that like your catch phrase or something?" I asked. "That… and 'troublesome', you know I think you need to broaden your vocabulary."

"Yeah or something." This wasn't like him at all. Usually he would snap right back with a harmless insult that had no meaning what so ever.

"What's wrong with you?" I didn't mean for it to sound so harsh.

"Nothing, just go back to sleep." He muttered.

"Well Shikamaru I think you know me a little better that to know that I'm not going to listen to you." I said.

"I figured as much." He said as he continued to stare into the fireplace.

"And you probably know that I don't give up very easily. Now answer my question. What is wrong with you?"

He sighed. "I guess it's just this whole situation. I knew I didn't want to go on this stupid trip. Stupid Asuma." He grumbled the last part.

"Who's Asuma?" I asked.

"My teacher, he's always been the one trying to make me do stuff I don't particularly want to. Like stuff that requires…effort."

I couldn't help but laugh, quietly, I didn't want to wake up the others. Neji and Tenten fell asleep on the couch sitting next to each other and Tenten had let her head fall on his shoulder. If Sakura was awake she would probably be squealing right now, but sadly she was asleep as well. Oh and I so would have loved that squeal fest. She and Sasuke were cuddled on another couch in each other's arms. Lovely. "I swear you are the laziest person I have ever met."

"Things just come easily to me. I normally don't have to put up any effort if all I want to do is pass, but I am failing half of my classes right now. This dumb trip was supposed to be extra credit."

"I can see that." Seeing how he acted here made it very possible that he would be failing his classes.

"Really? Most people wouldn't ever think that was even possible for me."

"Hold on. I don't want you to get too cocky now."

"Believe me I'm not." It was silent for a couple of minutes. "Aren't you at all worried?" He asked all of a sudden and I was just about to doze off too.

"Yeah I'm worried, shouldn't we be?"

"Yes actually we all should be a lot more worried than we all are. We know nothing about this storm. For all know we could be the only ones left. I wished I could have gotten to talk to Tenten's father a little bit longer. If I would have gotten more information maybe I might have…"

I cut him off. "Shikamaru shut up. You've done all that you could. We all might be dead if it wasn't for you in the first place. We're all lucky that you know all this crap. I'll tell you that even if we knew that weren't supposed to follow the others, I can tell you that Sakura wouldn't have known that we needed to pick a room with a fireplace. She may have gotten herself here but sometimes she isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. If you know what I mean. So you better snap out of it, because… we need you." I wanted to say that 'I needed him' but it was all a bit too much cliché for my taste.

He didn't move. He just sat there and watched the fire. "Temari?"

"What?" I snapped. I didn't want him to think that I was getting soft on him.

"Thanks."

"Anytime." I said and that was the last we spoke to each other before I fell asleep.

Tenten:

I woke up wide and a little bit sweaty. I had a bad dream. I didn't really remember what it was about though. Isn't it funny that something as harmless as a dream can scare you so much and then you can't even remember what the stupid thing was about? I must have shaken when I woke up because next to me, Neji woke up as well, and then I realized that I had fallen asleep on his shoulder. That was just great.

"What's wrong?" He mumbled still half asleep. I didn't think it was even more possible for him to even get _more _gorgeous, but somehow Neji had done the impossible.

"I just had a bad dream that's all."

"Oh." He took my shoulders all of a sudden and pulled my head on his lap. I swear for about ten seconds I could breathe. He brushed my bangs out my eyes and then closed his to go back to sleep. How did he expect me to fall back asleep now? So I took the opportunity to look around. The fire place was going strong; Shikamaru must have been up a few minutes ago because he was the one who had been keeping the fire lit this whole time. I noticed Temari lying on the floor with a blanket draped over her. Shikamaru was sitting next her head. He was asleep as well with his head propped up on the couch behind him.

Sakura and Sasuke hadn't moved since the last time I was awake. They were snuggled up together on a couch. If they had an audience I'm sure that the crowd would be giving a long drawn out 'ahhh.'

After a short while I was able to drift back into my dreams. Hopefully this one wouldn't be a bad one.

* * *

_Well how was that? ;p  
There's a little Nejiten for ya. I just couldn't resist. lol  
I'm shooting for **at least** ten chapters for this story so if your horrible at math, there should be only four left. T_T  
But seriously how long can they stay cooped up in that room?  
I hope you liked it and don't worry this story WILL have a happy ending.  
I'm not a fan of angst. lol_

_Please review and even if you don't check out some of my other stories. :)  
BTW: My poll is up so go VOTE RIGHT NOW!!! After you review that is. lol_

turtlechick...out  


* * *


	7. Chapter 7

_Well here it is.  
it's a bit short and meaningless but I am running out of ideas.  
It think it works though._

_Thanks to all my reveiwers. (You know who you are!)_

_Pairings: Nejiten, Shikatema, Sasusaku._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters._

**

* * *

**

**Freezing Rain**

Chapter 7

By: turtlechick

Tenten:

I woke up a little disappointed and confused the next morning. Disappointed because Neji wasn't there when I woke up, and what girl wouldn't love that? Confused because I was wondering how he had gotten up without waking me. I sat up rubbed my shoulders.

"Well good morning squirt." Temari said. It was only her and Sakura in the hotel room.

"Where are the others?" I asked groggily.

"Sasuke and Neji went to go get some more books for the fire and I have no idea where Shikamaru went. Do you know Temari?" Sakura asked. She seemed happy this morning.

"I don't know he said something about 'needing more,' something. I have no idea what he was talking about." Temari said quickly.

"Oh." Just then Neji and Sasuke walked back in. They ripped some pages out of the books they had brought up and threw them in the fire.

"Did you guys see Shikamaru down there anywhere?" Sakura asked.

"He's still not back? I wonder where he is." Sasuke mused out loud.

"I'm sure he's close." I said.

"Yeah that guy is lazy but he sure isn't stupid." Temari said. For a little while longer we guessed where Shikamaru was and what he was doing. I guessed maybe he was in the bathroom but he was gone for too long for that to be true. Sakura thought maybe he had gotten lost in the hotel. It was big but Shikamaru probably had memorized the whole entire floor plan on the first day we had all arrived at the hotel, knowing him. Temari thought he might have just fallen asleep somewhere, which also could be possible. But it was Sasuke and Neji who were right all along. They had guessed that he was doing something to help our situation here.

When Shikamaru finally came back he was holding something under his jacket. No one said anything until he reached for whatever it was and put it on the table in front of us. It was a radio. As soon as he put it down he left again without any explanation.

"Shikamaru where are you going?" Temari yelled after him. He just kept walking and it was silent yet again. We all just stared at the contraption on the table. It was old and didn't even look like it worked. I was right about that, because when Neji turned the switch to turn it on it didn't respond.

"What the hell! He brings a broken radio back. What was the point in that!?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm sure he has a good reason. Maybe he can fix it." Neji suggested trying to calm Sasuke down.

"He better be able to. He'll kill himself if he stays out there much longer." Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back on the sofa behind him.

Sakura put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry so much. He'll be fine." She said reassuringly.

"Yeah that lazy ass knows how to take care of himself. He's taken care of all of us hasn't he?" Temari said. She was right. Without Shikamaru we probably would have followed that group and might be dead right now. Thinking of those people, I wonder how they were doing, or the rest of the world for that matter. We had been stuck in this hotel room for about two weeks now and hadn't heard a thing from anyone else.

I my knees to my chest and buried my face. I wondered how my dad was. Was he fine? Had he sent anyone for us? Was he worried? I wanted to cry but I held back my tears. I felt a warm arm wrap around my shoulders. I remembered that Neji was sitting next to me so I leaned into his embrace. He wrapped his other arm around me and I heard Sakura giggling.

"You two are so cute." She said. I also heard a hand smack something else, probably Temari's hand on the back of Sakura's head. I was right because I heard Sakura yelp out in pain. I brought my head up and started giggling.

"Oh yeah well you two are so predictable." I saw Sakura sticking her tongue out at Temari as she rubbed the back of her head. Shikamaru entered the room again except this time with a box.

"Look he appears again." Temari said sarcastically. Shikamaru shot her a look that I didn't quite understand but Temari sure did because she busted out in laughter.

"Shikamaru what are you doing?" Neji asked because this time when he set the contents on the table he didn't leave the room but instead sat down and began sifting through what was in the box. He put a few things down so that we could see them, and Neji was right again, because tools were in the box he had just brought in.

He stopped what he was doing and finally look at the rest of us. "I'm trying to fix this stupid radio. Aren't you all at least a little wondering about what's happening out there?" He began fiddling with the radio once again. "I just hope that the radio frequencies are still up and someone is broadcasting… somewhere." He muttered.

While Shikamaru worked on that radio Neji, Sasuke and Temari watched him. I had tried but a girl had limits when it came to boredom, so I took a nap like Sakura was doing now.

OOO

When I woke up Temari was asleep as but Neji and Sasuke were still watching intently. I sat up just in time for Shikamaru to flip the switch and soon the room was filled with a dull buzzing sound. He had done it! Shikamaru had fixed the radio. Temari and Sakura slowly woke up and noticed that he had fixed it. No one did anything for a second and then we only watched as Shikamaru reached up and turned the knob to change the frequency.

It took Shikamaru about a minute just to find a working radio station. I thought at first that none of them would be operational because of this weather, but soon we heard the voice of another person. It was quiet as we all listened.

"_The weather is still extremely bad as I'm guessing everyone around the world would know. The cause of this monumental storm is still unknown but we have our best on the job. All we can do now is wait and hope that it gets better eventually. Wait hold on a second." _There was a rustling on the other side of the radio. _"Folks I just received a report that areas around the equator are now visible from space. It looks like this storm is finally fading. It should be a matter of days, from the look of this report that the rest of the world will start to thaw as well. Please stay tuned for more information."_

Shikamaru clicked the radio off and we just sat there. The news was great. We were finally going to be able to get out of here. In a few days my dad would send someone to come and get us and we could all go home after this… crazy experience.

* * *

_See what I mean? I am running out of ideas.  
Oh well only three more chapters.  
I hope I can drag it out a tad longer.  
I have another idea but I would like to not use it for reasons that are too hard to explain. lol  
Oh well... I hope you enjoyed it anyway._

_Please review and even if you don't please check out some of my other stories. :)  
Oh yeah vote on my pole poeple. Your opinion matters. lol_

_turtlechick...out_


	8. Chapter 8

_I have to say that this chapter is a little scary so beware. lol  
I've been a little stumped with this story and I know that my goal was ten chapters but it may have to be nine, but I might be able to throw out one more chapter.  
Who knows??? lol :)_

_Thanks to my reveiwers !!! You guys are awesome. XD_

_Pairings: Nejiten, Sasusaku, Shikatema._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters nor do I own the day after tomorrow.  
_**

* * *

**

**Freezing Rain**

Chapter 8

By: turtlechick

Temari:

"Where are you guys going?" I asked when I entered the room. I was just in the bathroom. Trust me you don't want to know where we have to go since the power is out and the toilets don't work. Let's say when all the snow melts, the janitors are going to pissed, but actually it might be pretty funny to see their faces. I'm just glad we'll be gone by then. The boys were suiting up and were headed right out the door when I entered.

"We're going to look around outside." Shikamaru answered.

"That's stupid. It's still freezing outside." I snapped back. Tenten and Sakura had worried looks on their faces. They weren't too keen on them leaving the safety of the hotel either.

"We just want to see what's happening outside and since we can't see out the window anymore, so we're going out." The room we were all in was on the fourth floor of the hotel and the snow was covering most of the windows to the point that we couldn't see outside anymore. Shikamaru had said that things would probably get worse before they got better. "You three stay here and listen to the radio again and see if they say anything new. We'll be back in an hour or so." With that said he and the two other boys left us in silence.

"What idiots!" I said loudly. "It's not going to be our faults if they get killed or something."

"Temari don't say that." Sakura said quietly. She really was worried and Tenten was too. I wonder what I missed while I was in the can.

"Guys don't worry I was just joking. I'm sure they'll be just fine. The least we can while they're out there is to do what Shikamaru told us and listen to the radio for any new information." I was trying to cheer them up they looked so down, but they had to remember that without the boys we couldn't have gotten this far. They know how to take care of themselves.

"Yeah you're right Temari." Tenten said.

"Damn right I am." I finally got a chuckle out of her.

OOO

Neji:

The man on the radio said that things were supposed to be getting better but so far we hadn't seen any changes, actually the weather was getting worse. Shikamaru said that it would take awhile for anything to start getting better so that we could get out of here. I was still hesitant but Shikamaru is usually right so he was probably right about this as well. To get out of the hotel we had to climb a flight of stairs up to the fifth floor so that we could find a window and make our trek outside.

Another reason we were going outside was for the reason that our food supply was getting low and if we had to stay here much longer it was going to run out. We were hoping to find a place that had food that wasn't totally frozen and wasn't too terribly heavy so we could carry it back to the hotel. We were prepared to be out for a while, because we had to. We didn't want to worry them with our situation, and it was decided last night, that we wouldn't tell them when Shikamaru brought it up and the girls were asleep, it really was for the better.

Outside the temperature was already unbearable even though we had been out for only about five seconds. It made me realize that it would be near impossible for something to survive in this kind of weather. All of those people that had left the hotel hopefully got to a shelter before the storm got this bad. The city was covered in the white snow, untouched and perfect. Most buildings were covered up if they were shorter than four stories. It was quiet; the only noise that we could hear was our own feet crunching in the snow.

"We should and maybe try and find a meat packing building. The meat won't have spoiled all of this time so we should be able to heat it up and eat it without it being bad. I think I saw one on the way when we got hot chocolate the other day." Sasuke and I nodded and we started our journey to the building.

The walk was only about two blocks but because of the hard to walk in snow and hard to breathe air we were all exhausted when we finally got there. There was a problem, we knew the building was supposed to be here but it was covered in snow.

"Dam it. I didn't think about the snow." Shikamaru said. He stared at the ground below him and was silent as he thought.

"Shikamaru can we try to dig our way?" Sasuke suggested. We both looked to Shikamaru for an answer.

"We could try but I'm not sure if it will work. There might be too much snow to dig." He was still staring at the snow beneath him.

"Well let's try." I said. So we started to dig. We hit the roof in only an hour and were almost to the front door, but it was at a price. Our hands were getting cold and we had to take shifts so that we could have a moment to warm up our hands, but our trick wouldn't work for long. If we didn't get in soon we would have to go back empty handed.

Suddenly the snow beneath me caved in and I was sent tumbling down into the snow. After I was able to get my bearings I figured out that I was at the front door of the building we had been trying so hard to get into.

"Neji are you alright?" Shikamaru yelled down to me.

"Yeah. I think I can get in." I answered taking a look in the building. I grabbed the door handle and tried to pry it open. After a bit of tugging it came open. "You guys stay up there. I'll hand the stuff up to you and then you can pull me up." They nodded from above and I took a step in the building.

It was like time stood still. The room was empty but looked just like the person who had owned it left it, like a still in a movie. It made me realize what people really had to leave behind them just to reach safety. I wondered how my family was doing. I lived with my uncle and my two cousins. My uncle took me in when my parents died in a car accident when I was little. I hope that they made it somewhere safe. My cousin Hinata was always very frail, I hope she was able to handle these conditions.

I made my way into the building and went into the back freezer. The cold from the actual freezer and the freezing temperatures from the atmosphere made it extremely hard to get open. I had to find a crow bar just to get it open. Inside the actual freezer was possibly colder than the air outside. I quickly grabbed a few pieces of manageable meat and went back to where I had fallen down. I handed a piece to Sasuke and went back inside to get more.

After I had gotten a few more chucks they pulled me back up and we started the trip back to the hotel. It was harder this time because we were already cold from being out so long and our hands were stinging from scooping away the snow. I thought that since we had been out in the weather so long that we might somehow get used to it but actually it just got worse. When we made it back to the hotel the three of us were on the brink of passing out, but we told ourselves that we were almost home free.

"Did you hear something?" Sasuke said as we climbed through the same window from before.

OOO

Tenten:

"I think they've been out long enough. I'm going to go look for them." It had been two solid hours since they had left and I couldn't stand it anymore.

"Tenten be rational. They're just fine come to think of it I bet they're on their way back right now or better yet already in the building." Temari said to try and calm me down.

"Well we aren't being much help just sitting here like useless damsels in distress." I huffed.

"Well you think I like this any better than you do Tenten?" She said harshly.

"Maybe you do since you won't let me go and find them!" I yelled.

"Guys just stop! That's not helping them either." Sakura said and she was right. Our bickering wasn't helping the situation at all. We all heard a crash coming from outside the room. Was it the boys, but then why was there a crash?

We all three went outside the room to see Neji running through the hallway with a piece of meat in his hand. That was weird. But what was weirder is that he didn't stop at the room instead he just kept running. He turned the corner and behind him was a wolf. Its teeth were barred and low snarl came from its mouth. The three of us were frozen in the doorway. All we could do was watch as the beast approached us. The Shikamaru and Sasuke came running around the hallway Neji had just come from.

"Come on puppy want some meat?" Shikamaru was dangling a piece of meat in front of his face. The wolf took his attention off of us and went straight for Shikamaru, he and Sasuke bolted up the stairs next to them and the wolf followed right along after them. What was going on? Temari ran towards the stairs and left Sakura and I.

"Temari, where are you going?" I yelled after her.

"You said you wanted to help so I'm helping." This was crazy we were all going to die. We followed anyway. Up the stairs it was a lot brighter because the windows weren't covered up with snow. We saw Sasuke and Shikamaru at the end of the hall the wild dog right in front of them. Sasuke had broken one of the open windows and Shikamaru was now dangling the food in front of the window. The wolf took the bait and jumped for it and went flying straight out the window. Even though the difference was only a story the fall probably killed it or injured it at least. There was only one question now, where was Neji?

"Have you three seen Neji?" Sasuke asked out of breath.

"Yeah we saw him run past us on the last floor." Sakura answered him. "What's going on?"

"We were running short on food so we left to go and find some but when we got back to the hotel these wolves found us." Shikamaru said he was out of breath as well.

"Why didn't you tell us we were low on food you idiot!" Temari was pissed.

"We didn't want you three to worry." Sasuke said for him.

"Well mission not accomplished! Now you've got us worried that you're going to be eaten by blood thirsty wolves!" Sakura was into yelling too. I was just thinking about one thing. Where was Neji?

I ran off and headed back down the stairs, hopefully Neji hadn't run too far. I scoured the floor for Neji and the crazed wolf that was chasing him. I passed the room and continued the long hallways passing room after room until I saw Neji cornered at the end of the hall. He saw me too and was trying to tell me something.

"Tenten run back to the room!" The wolf spotted me and came sprinting towards me at full speed. I quickly turned back around and made a break for the room. I got there before the wolf but I couldn't get the door open. It was stuck or something, I tried rattling the handle but it still wouldn't budge. I didn't get it, we never had a problem getting the door open and now when I needed it to open, it wouldn't move. The wolf turned the corner but so did Neji. He lunged at the animal and caught it. I could only watch in terror as Neji and the wolf wrestled around the hallway. Neji was finally able to kick the dog into a wall and there was a sickening 'crack.' I shut my eyes and completely shut down. I had never seen something die right in front of my eyes.

"Tenten are you alright?" It was Neji's voice but I was frozen in place. "Tenten?" He said my name again. He put his hands on my shoulders. "Tenten are you hurt anywhere?" He asked again. I couldn't say anything. I wanted to, but nothing would come out. He took me in his arms and held me close and that's when I lost it. I sank into his chest and cried. Everything from the past weeks had built up into this one moment and I let it all out. He held me close and rubbed my back as sobbed and shook with stress. "She's fine just a little shaken up." I guess the others had found us.

I heard the door open and the others go in silently. "Tenten it's alright now." His voice was comforting. He separated himself from me and then shifted one hand on my back and leaned down to place other behind my knees so that he could gently lift me up. I put my arms around his neck and he took me back in the room, to where no wild dogs could get us. I never in a million years would have thought that I would need to worry about that.

* * *

_Well how was that bit of fluff ??? :P  
Like I said this story might be over sooner than I thought.  
It might be partly becasue I am running out of ideas and that I want to write one of the new stories looming around in my mind. :)  
Oh well I hope you enjoyed it._

_Please review and even if you don't check out some of my other stories.  
Oh and VOTE ON MY POLL!!!_

_turtlechick...out  
_


	9. Chapter 9

**Freezing Rain**

Chapter 9

By: turtlechick

"Mr. President look at this!" A small man came running in the conference room with a stack of papers in his arms and a wide grin on his face. "People look what we just received from space." He came to a halt at the head of the table where the president, Tenten's father and other important officials were seated. He calmed himself and finally spoke again. "I've got wonderful news." He said laying the large stack of papers on the table.

"Well spit it out man!" A person said, everyone was a bit impatient these days.

"Oh right." The small man said laughing slightly at his delay. "Well we just received a message from the space center with good news." He stood proudly after just relaying the most important message the country and world had needed in a while. He forgot, however, that he hadn't said the actual message that everyone was anticipating.

"Well what's the message say boy?" The president asked.

"Oh yeah." He laughed nervously.

He grabbed the remote off the stand and fumbled with it in his hands before truly turning the television on so that the rest of the room could see the oh so important message. He fiddled with the controls until finally landing on a channel where two men were shown. They were obviously without gravity because they both floated freely in the air.

"This is the recruits from the space program with a report from the recent weather problems." The camera zoomed in on the window behind the both of them. Out of the window earth could clearly be seen, but without the snow packed image that had been there for going on a month now. "As you can see the snow that was once covering most of the earth has almost completely melted and no new system of the horrible storm can be seen. As far as we can conclude the storm is over."

The nervous man switched off the TV and once again stood proud, knowing that this time he had successfully passed on the important message. The mood couldn't have been better in the room full of the worlds most prestigious officials and leaders.

"Well my fellow world leaders… it's over." There was a triumphant cheers from the entire room as, finally, the plague that had swept over the earth was over. They could all start to rebuild their different part of the world and start anew. Things were going to be able to be fixed and soon things would go back to normal.

There was man in the group knew there was something he had to do. He had a group of people in one of the most affected states that needed his help. He had been waiting for this moment longer than any father should.

OOO

Tenten:

It had been a month now that we had all been caught in the place that was supposed to be giving us an upper hand later in life. But all this trip had gotten us was stuck. We were jammed into a hotel room with only five other people to look at. Not saying those five other people I was stuck with, were bad. Two of them just happened to be my best friends, two more of them were I guess you could say their 'love interests' in this whole crazy experience.

And then the last one. Neji, the guy I had met by running into him and thinking he was a wall. And in some ways he was a wall. He was someone I could always lean up against when I wanted to fall. I knew that the first minute the three of us met them that it had happened for a reason and I think it was to help us get through this horror movie.

Without the three of them, we wouldn't have survived. Sasuke was our tough guy. Even though he was quiet he found ways to keep us together. Shikamaru, without his brains we wouldn't have even lasted as long as we did. He was also the person who as Sakura said, "tamed the beast," known as Temari. And Neji, like Sasuke, just kept us from ripping each other apart throughout this long ass month. I never thought that this trip would ever lead to what it did, a boyfriend. Especially since the only people we thought that were going to be here were total nerds.

The weather outside was getting better by the minute. Most of the ice had melted outside of the window and we cold actually see out of it again. Sakura freaked out when she woke up and was able to see the sun rise. We all had missed that, seeing the sun over the horizon. The whole thing was really pretty. We stood there as the sun shone on the snow, for the first time we had been able to see in a while, and we watched as the snow sparkled.

I knew that soon someone would come for us. I had faith in my dad. But I still wondered what about the other billions of people on the earth, surely this thing wasn't only in Maine. It had to be effecting other parts of the world. I wondered how the other people had fared. Did those people who went out in the storm survive? It was a good thing that Shikamaru found and was able to fix that radio, or else we all might have gone crazy from not knowing what was going on with the rest of the world, even though we were right in the middle of what was going on at the moment.

We were all sitting in quiet, just waiting for something to happen. We had heard on the radio that the government was already sending people out to rescue survivors. It was just a matter of time before someone came for us and got us out fo this place and back to our family, homes and warm beds, I really missed that last one.

OOO

Today was like any other day in the long month we had been here, quiet, boring and every thing else along those lines. We were all strewn out at different parts of the room some of us sleeping, it was the only thing to do. We were all alert, however, when we heard a faint rustling outside of the door. It was a ways away but Neji and Sasuke jumped up and went to the door. It could have been the wolves again for all we knew. We had hoped that we scared them enough the last time they came near us to the point that they wouldn't come back.

We sat silent and still waiting for whatever was outside of the doors. I could feel my heartbeat in my ears, it felt like it would jump out of my chest if I let it. Sakura scooted closer to me as the shuffling got louder and louder until it was right outside the door and it stopped. Whatever was outside said nothing so we presumed that whatever it was it wasn't human.

The things started slamming up against the door until our only barrier broke and in came three U.S. soldiers. No one said anything, still shocked that we had been found and this whole ordeal was over. I knew the voice that was heard next by heart.

"Move out of the way soldiers." Said the voice. The men obeyed and then my dad appeared in a large puffy red coat. His cheeks were red, he never liked the cold, that's why he liked to call Phoenix home. He saw me right away and came running into my arms. This one of the rare times I had seen my, 'all about the military,' dad cry. I'm sure I was bawling as well, but I was numb so I couldn't tell. He released me and hugged Sakura next and then Temari. "I'm so glad you kids are alright." He had no idea how glad we all were to see him. "We've got a chopper outside to take you all home." He wiped his face again with his gloved hands and gave me another squeeze.

We grabbed whatever few belongings we had left and followed them outside. It was bright, because the sun could clearly be seen from earth. On the still packed snow was a helicopter, the one that was going to take us out of here. We were all about to leave this forsaken place but I knew there was something I had to. I grabbed Neji's hand and pulled him to my father.

"Dad." I said confidently, my voice raspy from the still cold conditions. "This is Neji."

My dad and saw our hands intertwined and stuck out his to Neji. "Thank you sir for taking care of my little girl."

Neji relaxed and shook his hand. "I would do it all over it again in a heartbeat."

"Let's hope you never have to. Come on let's get you kids home."

We all got in the helicopter, it was a little tight because of all the people that were in it. There wasn't an arm that wasn't touching another arm. We lifted up off the ground and I watched as our home for the long month drifted away as we gained altitude and eventually flew away.

"As soon as I heard the coast was clear I rushed out here to get you kids. The other known survivors are being picked up as well." I felt like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders knowing that we weren't the only other survivors.

"How far did the storm travel?" Shikamaru asked.

"It covered almost the entire globe." My father answered.

"So do you know how many other survivors there are?" Sakura asked next.

"We only know of a few, like ones that were able to communicate with others that knew what was happening and knew what to do like me. There are other copters going to different parts of the city as we speak." To think that there were others in this city that we never even knew about.

So it was over, this bizarre event that led to so much more than we all thought. It had brought us all closer together and the knowing that we could survive anything as long as we put our minds to it… even a little _freezing rain_ couldn't hold us down.

* * *

_Yay I'm done!!! I didn't meet my goal but I think I'll survive. :)  
It also didn't end exactly as I planned but, I'm no perfectionist so I'm sure I won't lose any sleep over it. lol  
I hope you enjoyed this story, I sure had fun writing it.  
It feels good to complete it finally. XD_

_Please review and check out some of my other stories. ;p_

_turtlechick...out_


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